Humans

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Humans

    Letters from the July 24, 2004, issue of Science News

    Whee! I can pretty easily tell what was going through the kiddo’s mind while trying “in vain to scoot down a miniature slide” (“Toddlers’ Supersize Mistakes: At times, children play with the impossible,” SN: 5/15/04, p. 308: Toddlers’ Supersize Mistakes: At times, children play with the impossible). 1. “Slides are fun. Why not pretend to […]

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  2. Health & Medicine

    New cholesterol guidelines advise more treatment

    Citing results from five recent trials of anticholesterol statin drugs, U.S. health officials recommend that physicians use the drugs to treat many more patients with high cholesterol.

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  3. Archaeology

    Seeds of agriculture move back in time

    Excavations in Israel indicate that people began to eat large quantities of wild grass seeds and wild cereal grains by around 23,000 years ago, which pushes back by 10,000 years the estimated shift to a plant-rich diet.

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  4. Humans

    From the July 14, 1934, issue

    Desert plants cope with permanent drought, study of twins gives clues to epilepsy, and airplanes collect weather information in flight.

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  5. Health & Medicine

    Leukemia Fighter: Drug could combat resistant cases

    A new drug for treating chronic myeloid leukemia that is resistant to the frontline drug imatinib shows promise in mouse tests.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    A Toxic Side of Weight Loss: Pollutants may slow body’s metabolism

    Weight loss releases toxic chemicals into the bloodstream, which may slow the body's metabolism.

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  7. Humans

    Caring for a Historic House

    The National Park Service offers advice on taking care of the exterior—or skin—of an old home. From repairing shingles and fixing chimneys to painting trim and improving site drainage, this online course provides handy pointers about what to do and what not to do to keep an historic house in good shape. Go to: http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/roofdown/index.htm

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  8. Humans

    Letters from the July 17, 2004, issue of Science News

    Readers on reading Other librarians and I regularly discuss illiterate, functional, aliterate, and avid readers. I am pleased that research has begun into what happens in readers’ brains (“Words in the Brain: Reading program spurs neural rewrite in kids,” SN: 5/8/04, p. 291: Words in the Brain: Reading program spurs neural rewrite in kids). The […]

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Four die of rabies in transplanted tissues

    Four people who received tissue transplanted from a man who had died from an undiagnosed rabies infection have since themselves died from the same incurable neurological disease.

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  10. Humans

    The high cost of staying current

    Reading peer-reviewed journals remains a primary means by which researchers stay on top of developments in their fields, but the annual costs for these periodicals are steep.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Counting Carbs

    Although low-carbohydrate diets can be powerful weight-loss tools, many physicians now conclude they aren't for anyone who isn't under a doctor's watchful eye.

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  12. Humans

    From the July 7, 1934, issue

    Fireworks in Fairyland, controlling the sex of warm-blooded animals, and deadly atmospheres on Jupiter and Saturn.

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